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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCable Television PolicyCABLE TELEVISION POLICY Implemented March 2008 Revised October 2012 SECTION 1: POLICIES MISSION STATEMENT AN D GOALS Prior Lake Television (PLTV ) is a valuable tool for providing timely information about go v er n- ment issues to the residents of Prior Lake. As such, the City’s goal shall be to focus progra m ming on matters pertaining to public health and safety, local history and related governmental topics of interest to Prior Lake residents. Specific goals and objectives of PLTV : 1. Increase public awareness and understandin g of the structure and fun ctions of Prior Lake go v ernment, TV services, resources, activities and issues; 2. Stimulate citizen knowledge about and participation in the City decision - making process; 3. Increase the flow of communications between City residents an d their government; 4. Produce quality programming , 5. Provide information about events and issues taking place in Prior Lake; 6. Maximize the effectiveness of cable television as a communication vehicle for City i n- formation; 7. Provide programming of only the most up - to - date and timely meetings and shows; 8. Increase viewership by developing alternative means for video/audio communications such as video on demand on line . DEFINITION The City of Prior Lake and Mediacom Communications Corporation define PLTV as a Go v er n- ment Access Channel as stated in the cable franchise agreement awarded by the City to M e di a- com, Minnesota Statutes Chapter 238.084 and pursuant to the Cable Communications Policy Act of 1984 Section 611 (47 USC 531) . The City of Prior Lake defines Governm ent Access as programming where governmental instit u- tions or their designees are the primary users, having full editorial control over all pr o gramming and services. CHANNEL IDENTIFICATI ON Channel name is Prior Lake Television Channel Channel Logo is POLICY GUIDELINES 1. General Guidelines for Prior Lake Government Television are as follows: City of Prior Lake Cable T elevision Policy 1 a. Programming on PLTV will depict people in a manner which does not di s cri m i- nate on the basis of political opinions or affiliations, race, color, age, n a tional o rigin, religion, sex, marital status, status with regard to public assistance or di s- ability. b. Programming is limited to City of Prior Lake funded or endorsed pr o grams and other government information of interest to City residents. Pr o gramming pr o- duced by non - profit organizations partnering with the City of Prior Lake is a l so acceptable. c. All public meeting coverage is produced to offer viewers access to government deliberations. Public meeting programs will be unedited, gavel - to - gavel cove r- age. d. All material submitted is subject to the editorial discretion of the Communic a- tions Coordinator and City Manager for technical quality and appropriateness of message in keeping with the stated objectives. e. The development and inception of vi deo programs by departments is to be done in conjunction with communications department staff. f. Authority for program lineup rests with the Communications Coordinator and City Manager. g. Prior Lake Television is a Government Access channel. Any pr o gra m ming su b- mit ted for airing that does not meet the exact content requir e ments d e scribed in this document will not be aired . 2. Political programming guidelines are as follows: a. P LTV shall not be utilized for promotion of political candidates, political ca u s es, political organizations, political parties, community action committees, ballot i s- sues . b. This is not to preclude the cablecasting of political debates or candidates mee t- ings where all candidates for a local office representing Prior Lake are invited . c. Also not precluded shall be the possibility of cablecasting reports by current elected officials regarding the status of issues and other governmental business. d. PLTV may also cover other go vernmental, Chamber of Commerce, SCALE and League of Women Voter meetings who partner with the City of Prior Lake and deal with governmental issues. 3. Commercial message/material guidelines for PLTV are as follows: a. Anything promoting a product or service, with the primary object ive of produ c- ing a profit for a specific commercial organization or individual may not be aired on PLTV . b. Solicitations by any organization or individual may not be aired on PLTV . c. This is not to preclude the incidental mention of a business or product as part of a program where the primary purpose is to disseminate information of public benefit. d. Business, individuals and organizations may be acknowledged for assistance in the production of a program or the provision of other means of support. 4. Religious message/material guidelines for PLTV are as follows: a. Programming generally considered religious in nature is not allowed. b. The Prior Lake Communications Department will not produce program mater i al that advocates a particular religious belief. City of Prior Lake Cable T elevision Policy 2 c. Religious organizations or ideals may be mentione d as incidental information as part of a program. d. This will not preclude the appearance of a clergy member or individual repr e- senting a particular religion as part of a program providing general information. FUNDING AND BUDGET P OLICIES Funding for the ope ration of PLTV comes from the City of Prior Lake general fund budget which use s funds from the annual franchise fees received as a result of the operation of the c a ble tel e- vision system in the City of Prior Lake. Other support may be pr o vided through se rvices such as grants from other agencies and assistance from the cable television franchise holder, as r e- quired by the franchise ordinance. PEG fees may also be adopted and assessed to subscribers, as prescribed under the cable franch i se ordinance. Incide ntal revenues may be generated through fees charged for video services, suc h as copies (dubs) of programs. Fees for making d u plicates of programs shall be charged in accordance with the current City of Prior Lake Fee Schedule. Funds received from all prev iously stated sources will be placed into the general fund budget to assist, in part, cable television operations. The annual Cable Television budget is pre pared by City’s Communications Department with a s- sistance from the Financial Department and forward ed to the City Manager for revision. The City Manager then forwards a proposal for the final budget to the City Council. The budget pr o vides for equipment repair and replacement in addition to ope r ational costs. Budget estimates will be based on a long - ra nge budgeting scenario developed by staff. The pu r- pose of this scenario is to plan current operating expenses around the need to maintain an equipment reserve fund, guaranteeing the replacement of any essential equipment purchased for the department. All services requested by other governmental partners will be addressed as staff/work sche d ule permit, and such services will be performed with no charge. M ATERIAL RETENTION I n accordance with the City of Prior Lake Records Retention Schedule, DVD and tape re cordings of the regular meetings of the Prior Lake City Council, Planning Commission and Advisory Co m- mittees have a minimum retention period of three months following approval of the meeting minutes. The written minutes shall co n tinue to be the exclusive o fficial record of the Council proceedings and other public hearings in accordance with Minnesota Statutes 138.17 and 138.225, of the Minn e sota Records Retention Schedule. Recordings shall be stored in accordance with the City’s approved data retention sch edule. R e- tention may occur for longer periods of time as follow s : 1. at the request of the City Council; 2. at the request of the City Manager; 3. at the request of an individual for the sole purpose of ordering a copy from the City; 4. if footage is needed for a fu ture production; 5. at the discretion of the Communications Coordinator. City of Prior Lake Cable T elevision Policy 3 Master recordings will be retained at Prior Lake City Hall. This storage area is not a c cessible to the public without assistance of the Communications Coordinator o r Cable Technician . Files of programs, raw footage and recordings from other sources will be kept as up - to - date as possible to assist with retrieval. Staff can request DVDs or VHS tape d copies of meetings from the Communications C o ordinator with a written or verbal request. PUBLIC ACCESS TO MAT ERIALS All recordings that are retained by the City of Prior Lake shall be made available for public i n- spection on City premises upon request. When a request is made, materials will be made avail a- ble within a reasonable amo unt of time, but no later than five (5) bus i ness days after receipt of the request. If members of the public wish to obtain copies of video recordings, the City may assess reasonable charges to cover the cost of time and material as approved annually in the City Fee S chedule. The programs produced by City staff and seen on PLTV ar e copyrighted and cannot be r e broa d- cast by any entity without permission by the City Manager or Communications Coordin a tor . Upon request, staff will make every effort to accommodate the s pecific needs of those viewers with disabilities wishing to view programs produced by the City of Prior Lake. Arrangements can be made in advance to accommodate the requesting citizen’s disabil i ties. There is no charge for these services. Audio headsets ar e made available at no charge during the live meetings to a m- plify the audio signal. SECTION 2: PROCEDURE S CITY COUNCIL MEETING OPERATING PROCEDURES Staff shall provide technical support to the Council, its committees and individual members in the prepar ation and production of materials for public meetings seen on PLTV . Proc e dures are as follows: 1. Council meetings – All regular City Council meetings will be cablecast live and recorded for replay. 2. Advisory Body Meetings – A ll regular Parks Advisory Comm ittee and Lake Advisory Committee meetings will be cablecast live and recorded for replay. 3. Council work sessions – work sess ions are not normally recorded. PUBLIC MEETING RECOR DING PROCEDURES 1. General program rules: a. Council desk audio coverage is gavel - to - gavel only. Ambient microphone s will not be used to transmit general room noise before or after an actual meeting. b. Video of the Council Chambers as it fills up or empties is acceptable, but Cou n cil microphones are closed. Only wide shots of the room are a cceptable before and after a meeting to minimize the possibility of visually editorializing. City of Prior Lake Cable T elevision Policy 4 c. The presiding officer (the Mayor during a City Council meeting) will exercise as much control as necessary to insure that the public meeting remains a forum for th e conducting of business of the City and does not become a forum for indivi d- uals who may attempt to utilize the live broadcast for the delivery of inappr o- priate information to the general public. 2. Camera Selection: a. The person speaking will be on camera with the understanding that equipment co n straints may require a couple moments to achieve the shot. b. Individual reaction shots (shots of those not actually speaking or being a d- dressed) are not allowed. c. Brief wide shots of the room, or of those seated at the dai s, are acceptable to break up a long, verbal delivery, or for the technician to prepare the next ind i- vidual shot. d. If a person (c ouncil member, advisory commission, committee or board me m- ber; or podium speaker) is being address ed , a brief shot can be taken of that person in anticip a tion of that person’s response. e. Anyone speaking to the Council or a s part of a public hearing must come up to the p o dium. The Mayor or presiding officer will be responsible for directing first - time speakers regarding the use of th e podium. f. If a member of the staff seated at the staff desk speaks or responds to a que s- tion. That person can be shown on camera. Members of the press must use the podium to address the Council. 3. Preparation of Graphics: a. All t hose scheduled on the agenda w ill be asked if they require additional m e dia support at staff’s earliest convenience. If media support is requested, the pr e- senter must contact the communications coordinator or cable technician by phone or email no less than one business day prior to the meeting or public hearing and schedule time before the public meeting to learn equipment fun c- tion and use. Additional media support i n cludes: - VHS, DVD or video file playback. - PowerPoints, computer photos or graphic slides - Large graphic displays or bluepri nts. - Direct hookup with a laptop computer. b. Staff requests for additional media support should be made to the communic a- tions coordinator or cable tech no later than one business day prior to the pu b- lic meeting. c. Staff members wishing assistance in preparing new materials for presentation should have their materials and instructions to the Communications Coordin a- tor one week in advance of the meeting date. d. St aff requesting video production support must allow for additional production time based on the difficul ty of production. A meeting with the communications coordinator is necessary to determine how long the production process will take. 4. Use of Graphics: a. City staff has control over the zoom , brightness and focus of the document camera at the staff desk. The presenter must direct staff to zoom or change the City of Prior Lake Cable T elevision Policy 5 graphic. The Mayor or presiding officer is responsible for reminding staff to a d- just color, brightness or focus. b. During discussion, those seated at the dais can call for any presented graphic, or packet ite m to be displayed on the document camera at the staff desk, or r e- quest that any presented graphic slide or illustration be redisplayed by the pr e- senter . During the short delay in retrieving and displaying the desired info r- mation, they are urged to continue their discussion. 5. Council Monitors and Large Overhead Plasma Displays: a. Council monitors and two of the large plasma displays are to be used for the display of document camera items, video or laptop presentations. A live feed of the meeting ’ s outbound vide o, without graphics, is displayed on two large pla s- ma monitors in the chambers . Audio and video with graphics is available in the lobby on the large plasma screen near the front desk . b. Monitor images will generally include the output of the overhead camera, co m- puter graphics or video playback. c. The default image will be a blank screen, or City logo /flag at the beginning of a mee t ing. GENERAL CABLE TV STU DIO (CONTROL ROOM) P ROCEDURES 1. General Rules: a. No one other than the communications coordinator and cable t echnician is a l- lowed in the studio during the taping and live broadcast of a public meeting. Walking into the studio is not allowed once the meeting is in progress. b. Nothing may be removed from the studio during evening meetings when r e- sponsible staff membe rs are not present. 2. Duplication (public requests): a. Upon a verbal or written request for a program or taped meeting, the person shall provide appropriate rewritable media to the communications coordinator (example, blan k DVD). For convenience, appropriate m edia can be purchased from the City of Prior Lake at the time of duplication. b. Payment for duplication of programs is required prior to copying. Staff will not review and locate for copying only a portion of a meeting. Staff will provide a complete copy and the viewer is responsible for locating the item. Staff will not custom edit programs or recordings of meetings. c. The tape duplication fee will be waived for those who appear on a program. This includes, but is not limited to, guests and participants of in terview programs produced by the City of Prior Lake. d. Copies of programs will be provided as soon as possible after the request is r e- ceived. If a program is to be mailed, a postage and handling fee must be paid at the time of orde r ing. e. All fees mentioned ar e set on an annual basis by the City of Prior Lake Schedule of Fees . 3. Duplication (council and staff): a. Upon receiving a request, a copy of the program and meeting will be made available to any Council member or staff member. This copy is for review and City of Prior Lake Cable T elevision Policy 6 shou ld be returned if not needed after viewing. Council members or staff me m- bers may also request a single permanent copy. b. Council members or staff members must make a written request to the City Manager to arrange for larger volume requests of duplication or a distribution of mater i als ( three or more separate meeting s or program s or copies of such ). 4. Requests for Assistance: a. Requests for assistance can be obtained from the Communications Coordin a tor. b. The Communications Coordinator will schedule production time , equipment and pr o motion. c. Projects are generally handled on a first - come first - served basis, with sche d uled items taking priority over last - minute requests. d. Only trained personnel or specially designated volunteers are allowed to ope r- ate the audio/video e quipment. e. Program content will be a primary responsibil ity of the department requestin g assistance. 5. Channel Time: The scheduling of program air times is the direct responsibility of the communications coordinator and can be altered, rearranged, cancelled o r added at any time to suit the needs of the City of Prior Lake. The scheduling of a program only takes place after it has been dete r mined that the program meets all programming guidelines. a. Live p rogramming has the highest priority in scheduling. Meetings or other live events tha t meet the criteria to be cable cast will displace any regularly sche d- uled taped rebroadcast. The Communications C oordinator will en sure that live program schedul es are displayed on PLTV . Regular p rogramming will be given regular time slots around which speci al pr o- b. grams will be scheduled. A c urrent program ming schedule is available on the City’s website . Programming is subject to change at any time by the c ommun i- cations c oordinator, due particularly to the wide variance in public m eeting d u- ration. The following document is an example of the manner in which regular programming is standardized: City of Prior Lake Cable T elevision Policy 7